Category: The impacts (3)

January 14, 2008

Q&A: And the choices are?

> Posted by Linda Kleindienst at 2:10 PM

Q.One point on which I am not clear. I presently own my home on which I have the $25,000 homestead exemption and I understand that the taxes cannot increase more than 3 percent a year. Under the proposed amendment, I have heard that I will have a choice of the following two options.

1. Make no change to my present situation - continue with the $25,000 exemption, and limit tax increases to 3% per year.

2. Increase my exemption to $50,000, but at the same time remove the 3% cap on tax increases, allowing for unlimited tax increases.

As for tax increases, the amendment does not stop local governments from raising taxes by whatever amount they wish. (The only limit they have is the 10 mill cap set in the state constitution.) But, it would likely be political suicide for any elected officials to vote to raise the millage or tax rate if Amendment 1 does pass.

Also, remember that Amendment 1 would raise your homestead exemption to $50,000 only for city, county and special district taxes. It will remain at $25,000 for your school tax bill, which is usually about 40 percent of your total tax bill.

Q&A: Do I keep my 3 percent protection?

> Posted by Linda Kleindienst at 12:28 PM

Q: Can you help clear up something?

If Amendment 1 passes, will we lose the 3 percent cap on tax increases, allowing the tax department to increase (taxes) as much as they wish? Will we keep the 3 percent or can the government increase the value of our homes to make up for tax shortages?

Please Explain!! M.M.

A: No matter what happens with Amendment 1 on Jan. 29, you will NOT lose the Save Our Homes protection on your homesteaded property.

If Amendment 1 does pass, it will for the first time provide a 10 percent assessment cap for second homeowners (like snowbirds) and business properties, which currently have no protection against soaring assessments.

November 7, 2007

Q&A: How do Florida property taxes compare with other states?

> Posted by John Dahlburg at 12:11 PM

Q. How do Florida property taxes compare with the rest of the states? Is there a national average and are we the highest? Could you do a comparison to other states of similar size to see how we fare nationwide?
G.G.

A. While Florida property owners may think they’re being taxed higher than anyone in the nation, they’re not.

The highest property tax burden falls on those living in the Northeastern states.

According to the Tax Foundation, a non-partisan tax research foundation found at http://taxfoundation.org, Florida ranked 22 in its 2006 listing of highest property tax states. New Jersey was at the top and Alabama at the bottom. (New York was 4th, California was 10th and Texas was 14th.) This statistic, however, relates only to taxes paid on owner-occupied housing.

The group places Florida 15 out of 50 states on the amount of all local property taxes collected per capita in 2005.

The average collected per person in Florida was $1,131 compared to New Jersey, which ranked at the top of the list, with $2,205. New York was third at $1,768. At the bottom - Arkansas with an average $222 in property taxes collected per person in the state. Texas was 11th at $1,320. The U.S. average was $1,094.

(Remember - this is money collected per person and also reflects a statewide average, meaning it’s higher in some areas like South Florida.)

The Foundation ranked Florida 22nd in the change in per capita state and local property taxes collected from 2000 through 2005. The research shows the Florida tax burden increasing 14.7 percent (per person) compared to a 48.9 percent jump in Wyoming (No. 1). The national average was 12.7 percent.

And remember - Florida doesn’t have a state income tax.

-- Linda Kleindienst
Tallahassee Bureau chief

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